Glitch
by MusicalDeleria
Summary: [S] Author: Introduce Story Your Name is ALISSA SAUNDERS. The name has way too many letters and you have no idea what is going on. You are about to do an ACROBATIC PIERRETTE off the fucking handle. You are a noob to all this SBURB nonsense and the ANGRY SHOUTY TROLL will not stop pestering you. There are too many SHENANIGANS going on for you to process You want to MURDER the AUTHOR
1. Chapter 1

Miss Saunders

Eyes the color of sunlit amber stare at me through the glass.

Miss Saunders

My emerald ones stare back, longing to be in the sun with the owner of those eyes.

Miss Saunders

The eyes show anticipation as their owner sits anxiously just beyond my reach.

"Miss Saunders!" The middle-aged woman at the front of the room shouts, her face a very dark shade of red, cheeks puffed out like a squirrel in agitation.

I turn my head very slowly in her direction, eyes half lidded in mild indifference. "Yes Mrs. Hoffman?" I ask, meeting her glare.

"Nice of you to join us again Miss Saunders," She says gruffly. "Now then, tell us how it is that Hades trapped Persephone in the underworld." She smirked as though she'd set a devious trap and I was about to trigger it, failing and playing right into her hands.

"Of course," I say with a small smile. "To begin, Persephone was the daughter of the goddess of the harvest, Demeter, she went out to pick flowers in the fields with her friends one day when Hades spotted her. She held such beauty that in that instant he knew he must have her. The next time she came to the field, Hades rose up through a crevice in the ground atop his chariot of flames and pulled Persephone up into the chariot with him, returning back to the Underworld with his intended queen in his grasp."  
Persephone wept and cried for him to let her go but he denied her, when Demeter realized her daughter was missing she was ravenous, allowing no crops to grow and throwing the land into a never-ending blizzard. She eventually enlisted the help of Hermes, the messenger, to get her daughter back once she learned of her whereabouts."  
But she was too late, Hades had persuaded Persephone to eat three pomegranate seeds, once this was discovered Hermes regretfully informed Demeter that her daughter may not leave since she had eaten food from the Underworld. Persephone cried that they were only a few seeds, clinging desperately to her mother."  
But then an agreement was made that Persephone would spend half the year with her mother on the surface, and the other half with Hades in the underworld as his wife. While Persephone was with her mother everything flourished, but when she left for the underworld Demeter gave cold and bitter weather, allowing no crops to grow. This is what gave us the seasons. Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall."

By the time I finish the class is silent and Mrs. Hoffman's face shows a blatant look of bewildered shock before she schools it back into her usual grimace, back to being fuming mad again. A few students laugh as the color on her face deepens and spreads to her ears.

"Was that alright Mrs. Hoffman? Persephone's myth is one of my favorites," I say with an innocent smile.

She nods, her lips pressing into a thin line as she composes herself. "That is all for the day, you may chat amongst yourselves until the bell."

"Shit Alissa, you fuckin' took her to school!" Alex says from behind me as I turn to face the isle in my chair, freeing up the back of it for him to lean on.

"Dumbass, we're already in school," Sarah says bonking him on the head.

"You owned her!" Cole adds, reaching over for a fist bump and I oblige.

"I'm just lucky this wasn't math class or something," I say, still grinning as the feeling of one-upmanship slowly dissipates.

"Damn straight! She was like, out for blood though man! I thought she was about to pounce!" Alex says, waving his hands around animatedly, almost enviably falling out of his chair only to catch himself on his desk so that he was hovering over the floor, the chair having fallen back into the desk behind him.

"That was so uncool dude, it wasn't even cool in an ironic way," I giggle, flicking his forehead with my index finger. He could be such a dork sometimes, our lovable little dork.

"What is it with you and irony man? I just don't get it," He says, putting a hand to his head.

The final bell rung, cutting off my reply as kids stampeded for the door. "Well, I'd better go before Nyx paces a rut into the courtyard,"

I leave after a chorus of goodbyes and the promise of an ass whooping in Battlefield from Cole. Yeah right, not even in his dreams. I smirk to myself as I walk through the halls and to my locker, gathering my things for the weekend and following the crowd of teenagers out the door.  
I pause on the steps, staring down at the chaos below before I spot a black blur racing toward me. I am pressed against the wall, pinned by my shoulders with two large black paws ending in sharp claws; their owner taking care not to scratch me with them. Amber eyes stare into mine as a long muzzle just barely touches the tip of my nose.

"Hey Nyx," I say, rubbing behind the wolf's ear. Her eyes close in contentment for a moment, opening only when I lower my hands.

She finally jumps down and stares at me expectantly.

"Fine fine," I sigh. "After you princess,"

My wolven counterpart snorts, releasing small puffs of steam into the crisp spring air before turning and trotting ahead down the path.

"Later Saunders," Alex calls, giving a nod in my direction as he steps out of the building, arm slung around a girl I'd never seen him with before. No surprise there, I've never seen him with the same girl twice.

"Later Rogers," I say, following the impatient wolf into the crowd.

***

It's so quiet out here in our little clearing that I can almost hear the arrows cutting through the air before burring themselves into their target, a tree fifty yards away, perfectly hitting the center dot I'd painted on the tree in red acrylics.  
Just behind me Nyx lays in the grass, cleaning her muzzle of a recent kill, a small rabbit and squirrel.  
The melodic thunk of each arrow hitting its mark is interrupted by a clap of thunder.

"Guess that means its quittin' time," I say, walking to the tree to retrieve my arrows, placing them back in the quiver slung over my shoulder. "You should go on ahead and get under the porch awning," I say to Nyx, "It takes forever to get rid of that wet wolf smell,"

***

Thankfully Nyx got under cover before the rain started, I can't say the same for myself though. I'm drenched head to toe and shivering by the time I walk into the foyer.  
Definitely time for a shower.

*

I exit the master bath to a chorus of beeps and chimes and the sight of an anxious wolf standing by my door.  
"Sorry," I sigh, patting the wolf on the head, to which her lowered ears raise if only slightly.

I walk swiftly down the hall, entering one of the open doors and pulling a chair up to the desk where my laptop sits, manically trilling to alert me to someone's pestering. Muting the device and grabbing a hair brush off my bed, I pull up the window for Pesterchum to find two new messages.  
I take my time, brushing out my long, blue-black hair before checking my Pester-log.

The first is from Cole, the other is a spam account which I promptly block before answering Cole.

sportsMaster [SM] Began Pestering musicalDeleria [MD] At 15:43

SM: Hey, what's up? Thought you said you weren't scarred of getting your ass beat on the simulated battlefield?

SM: Did you chicken out? ;)

SM: Hey? Lissa?

SM: Alissa?

MD: I;m here

MD: Sorry about that

MD: I didn;t realize how long we were gone; I just got caught up in shooting I guess; my bad : /

SM: It's cool, just as long as this means you really aren't chickening out of our match ;)

MD: As if; you;re about to get your ass handed to you :P

SM: Alright, Then quit the smack talk and let your playing do the talking ; )

MD: You;re on ; )

*

Five matches later I'm three levels above Cole and reveling in my victory as he grovels at my metaphorical combat boots.

SM: Alright, alright... You won

MD: And? X )

SM: I got my ass handed to me...

MD: Awww; you weren;t so bad; you won a few :)

SM: I won three -.-

MD: And they were a good three : )

MD: Oh; hold on a sec

MD: Someone;s trolling me

SM: Again? : /

MD: Yeah; it;s ok though; they don;t bother me that much

MD: Well; most of them : /

MD: brb

carcinoGeneticist [CG] Began Trolling musicalDeleria [CG] At 16: 51

CG: HEY FUCKASS.

CG: HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU.

CG: ARE YOUR PATHETIC SEEING ORBS BROKEN OR SOMETHING?

MD: What do you want this time? :[

CG: YOU'D BETTER NOT BE IGNORING YOUR GOD YOU UNGREATFUL WASTE OF GENERICALLY SHARED MATERIAL

CG: FINALLY I GET A FUCKING ANSWER. I'VE GOT BETTER THINGS TO DO THEN TO SHIT AROUND WITH YOU.

MD: I see you still haven;t gotten over your God complex.

CG: AND QUIT USING GC'S FROWNING FACE THING. IT'S ANNOYING ENOUGH WHEN SHE DOES IT.

MD: Make me.

MD: :[

CG: GOG DAMN IT. JUST, LISTEN TO ME OKAY?

MD: Fine; so what is it you had to say to me.

I sit there for a minute waiting for a response before an answer appears under my text.

CG: GOGDAMMIT. I FORGOT. ALL THAT TIME I WAS WAITING ON YOUR INSIGNIFICANT REPLY.

MD: Well; If you have nothing to say to me then I guess we;re done here.

I move the cursor over to the corner of the screen to close the window but a new block of text stops me.

CG: WAIT!

MD: What?

CG: IT WAS IMPORTANT

CG: JUST

CG: WHEN YOU PLAY THE GAME MAKE SURE YOUR LITTLE WOOFBEAST COMPANION IS IN THE HOUSE WITH YOU.

CG: THERE WAS MORE BUT IT'S NOT AS RELEVANT RIGHT NOW, I'M NEEDED ELSEWHERE

MD: What...? What game?

CG: YOU'LL UNDERSTAND LATER.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] Ceased Trolling musicalDeleria [MD] at 19:57

The fuck? That was weird.  
I close the window, pulling up my previous conversation. How would he even know about Nyx? No. wait. It was probably just a guess, he never said wolf anyway. He was just trying to get to me like always.

I hate trolls...

SM: Hey Lissa? You alright?

MD: Yeah; I;m fine

SM: What were they bugging you about this time?

MD: Nothing really; stupid stuff

MD: Nothing to worry about

SM: Alright. : / Think I'm done with gaming for tonight so I'm gonna split

MD: Ok bro; go let your wounds heal ; )

SM: ...

MD: You;re glaring at your computer screen right now aren;t you? ; )

SM: ...

MD: I;ll take that as a yes ^^

MD: Anyway; if you change your mind I;ll be playing DC Online till two : )

SM: You're insane

MD: Yup ^^ But you;re forgetting; I;m nocturnal; I question sleep X )

MD: Well; at least sleep during the night; and normal sleep patterns.

SM: I just don't see how you're so energetic in the mornings

MD: It;s a mystery to me too ^^

SM: That was sarcasm smart one... :/

MD: Quit being a meanie... -.-

SM: Meanie? Did you seriously just- oh whatever. Later

MD: X P

SM: Real mature Lissa : /

MD: :)

SportsMaster [SM] Ceased Pestering MusicalDeleria [MD] at 20:09

"Hey Nyx, get me a ham sammich,"

The wolf only looks at me blankly, making no attempt to move from her spot on the rug.

"Yeah, didn't think so," I say, pushing the chair back from the desk. "You want anything?"

"No? Ok," I say after a moment of silence. I'd been talking to Nyx like this too long for it to feel weird anymore. I used to consider the thought that I may be crazy for holding conversation with a wolf. But as a great man once said, 'Only the sane question their sanity.', I don't know who said it but It's stuck with me and I've used it a lot since I met Nyx.  
She is not just some dumb animal, I swear she's as smart as any person I know. Let me rephrase that, she's smarter than any person I know.

With one look she can convey what she's feeling, what she wants, what she's thinking. I'm not the only one who's seen her do it either, she can walk up to just about any person in town and get them to do what she wants; and she has, she's a tricky little devil.  
Around the time I started noticing this I began questioning my sanity less frequently. Now it's pretty much accepted that she's more human than wolf in the wiring.

I return to my room, sandwich and soda in hand, kicking open the door to find it vacant. The window is open a few inches more than when I left and my comforter is in a state of untidiness; hanging off the bed, a corner of it untucked and just touching the windowsill, patches of black fur clinging to the fabric.

"Of all the times... It has to be the one day I actually decide to make the bed." I sigh.

**Well, there's chapter one of my first Homestuck fanfic, please tell me what you thought of it, anything you like, don't like, if anyone is out of character, please let me know! **** I accept all kinds of criticism so let me know what you think and I'll use it to better my writing and improve this piece of storytelling for you all, without you guys I would be nowhere and I appreciate each and every one of you that drops by and gives a story I've written a read, though I do admit the reviewers and favoriters do get a bit more love than others **** have a great week and thanks for checking out my story **


	2. Chapter 2

I wake up sometime around six according to the blurry red numbers on my alarm clock. My right side feels toasty warm under the covers while my left feels as though I'd been laying in front of an open freezer all night.

I look next to me on the warm side and see Nyx laying against me, sound asleep and dead to the world.  
She must've crawled back in through the window and curled up next to me as I slept.

The open window and lack of covers on my left side explains the cold.  
I adjust the blankets and again find myself drifting back into sleep even as I fight feebly to stay conscious.

I don't wake again until noon and find my source of warmth has deserted me, probably gone out to hunt again.  
I rub the sleep from my eyes and blindly make my way toward the bathroom, pulling the towel from last night off one of the chairs along the way.

I get the morning routine out of the way, shower, teeth, hair, you get the point. I take few minutes getting my hair dry for the most part with the blow-drier I hardly ever use.

I pull on a fitted black tank top and throw a fitted long sleeved lilac top with slightly belled sleeves over it. It hung loose at the neckline, showing off one of my shoulders and the black strap of the tank top, The shirt had a large blocky butterfly with a strange swirly design in the middle printed across the front. I pulled on a pair of short black leggings that stopped an inch after the hem of the gray pleated skirt I pulled over them. Finally I pulled in a pair of thigh-high black boots; like the ones American McGee's Alice wears in her videogame.

I grab a black studded belt off the desk before leaving the room and taking the stairs to the first floor.

The sound of claws clicking against the hardwood floors echoes through the empty house. Nyx waits in the kitchen as I toss some waffles in the toaster and make myself a cup of coffee.

The second I discard my plate and mug in the sink she's headed for the door as I follow behind, grabbing my bow and quiver from the hall on the way out.

"I've just about had it with all this damn rain," I sigh, kicking the door open. Nyx walks past me into the hall as I pause at the doorway, retrieving the mail and removing my key from the lock.

"You know you're getting a bath right?" I say as Nyx proceeds to shake the rain water off in the hall. She growls at me lightly in response and I smirk. "You think I'm joking."

One annoyed, clean smelling wolf later, I'm sorting through the mail as Nyx proceeds to roll around on the carpet to get the mint smell of dog shampoo out of her fur.

I sigh, "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? It was necessary. Mom and Dad could come home at any time and I can't have the house smelling like wet wolf when they do,"  
They would freak if they found out you've been coming and going as you please and sleeping on my bed most nights,"

I return to the mail, grabbing the next envelope in the pile and tearing the top open with my finger. I pause a second to look at the sender before reading the contents.

'Dear Alissa,  
How are you doing? I miss you very much baby, are you doing good in school? How are your friends? I hope they've been keeping you company while your father and I are away, sadly we wont be back for at least a month or two but just keep holding on dear. I just want to tell you, oh, sorry honey, they need me in a meeting urgently; corporate business is so draining. I will continue this in my next letter, till then.  
Sincerely, Your Mother Kimberly Saunders

Ps. Oh, and I love you sweetie, don't forget that.'

The letter from Dad is pretty much the same and I can't help the small sigh from escaping my throat. Really though, how hard is it to to finish writing a letter when you have more time before sending it with a scribbled excuse as though she were talking to me through a chat room.  
Might as well say, 'sorry offspring of mine, this letter is enough of a chore to write and I've just been given an excuse to stop writing, you're not worth more than sixty seconds of my time anyway, just continue keeping up appearances for us won't you dear?'

"On second thought Nyx, we won't have to worry about Mom and Dad coming home for a while," I should have expected this from them. I hadn't even seen them since last December; and that was the day after Christmas when all their offices were closed... Yes, they were open Christmas day, they even had the opportunity to take off and come home for Christmas but they declined. I spent Christmas with Sarah and her family that year.

Despite how characteristic this is of them I can't help the few angry tears that escape my eyes, I rub them away mirthfully and continue with the mail.

Nyx walks over and sits next to my chair, laying her head on my lap as I resume sorting.

I pause when I come to a pair of tan envelopes with green symbols on them. "sBurb... Why does that sound familiar?" Inside the envelopes are two game discs. "They look like they're for the PC..."

I turn the envelopes over again to check the return address, but there isn't one; my address isn't on it either, there aren't even any stamps.

My curiosity peaked I walk upstairs to my room and put the first disk in my laptop's CD drive, following the installation prompts and leaving to dry my still soaking wet hair.  
When I get back the system is installed so I put in the second disk and while I wait on that I check out what exactly it is I downloaded onto my computer.

Wouldn't it just fuck my day up even further if I just infected my laptop with a virus.

Bored with the sluggish pace of the software I decide to google the name on the installation window; sburb.

The first link brings me to a gravely written walkthrough, I go back to results, scanning through the rest to find something pertaining to these disks. All I find are poorly written walkthroughs and garbled literary crap from magazines like Game Bro.

Ok then, it's a game. That still doesn't tell me much though.

Briefly I recall the conversation with CG yesterday. I feel a sudden chill but realize a moment later it's only the breeze coming from the still open window. Nonetheless, an erie aura still lingers.

"Nyx?" I call. Not a moment later the wolf is by my side looking up at me in question. I'm just being paranoid... Either way, her presence calms me substantially.

I rub behind her ears absentmindedly as I click back to the first link to the only intelligible walkthrough thus far, skimming through the first bit; the author seems to have a large vocabulary, straying from the style of the others on this site that use man, dude, or bro every other word. I can appreciate that.

What causes me to pause though is the following, 'Since you are reading this, chances are you have installed this game on your computer already. If this is true, like many others, you have just participated in bringing about the end of the world.'

I take a minute to reread the small paragraph, once, twice, three times. Surely this is crazy nonsense. An attention grabbing introduction to get you to read more; though it has succeeded, I find myself avidly scrolling down the page, reading until I reach the end, my mouse hovering over the 'next' link.

By the time I've read all there is to read for the moment both downloads have been completed, now occupying my screen is a green spinograph on a white background, a slow moving loading bar showing the progress below.

I pull up the walkthrough, skimming it once more as the minutes tick by. "What the hell is a Fetch Modus?"

I stand from my chair, sighing in aggravation, carefully kicking aside some of the comics littering the floor; most of them old Batman comics I've had since I was little, there are duplicates in a box in the closet, their value continuing to increase.

I stand there for a minute, having forgotten what I was doing. I walk over to the corner, powering on the small printer stationed there and walking back to the computer. The Pesterchum window has popped up again, I'm being trolled.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling musicalDeleria at 14:13

GC: SO 4L1SS4, LOOKS L1K3 YOUR3 4BOUT TO PL4Y TH3 G4M3 W1TH US : ]

MD: Terezi...? You wouldn;t happen to be talking about about these discs that mysteriously appeared in my mail today would you? :/

GC: M4444YYYBB333 : ]

MD: ...

GC: ... : ]

MD: Oh grand overseer of justice; please tell me what wisdom you have of these mysterious packages!

MD: Sooooo? Can you help out here TZ?

GC: OH 4L1SSA, YOU KNOW FL4TT3RY C4N NOT SW4Y TH3 H4ND OF JUST1C3 : ]

GC: BUT S1NC3 WERE

GC: WH4T W4S YOUR HUM4N WORD FOR M4T3SPR1TSH1P?

GC: TH4T W31RD WORD TH4T P3RTA1NS TO MOR3 TH4N ON3 P4RTN3R?

GC: FR13NDS?

MD: Yup; that;s the one :)

MD: So you;ll help me out right? Since we;re friends?

GC: OH 4LR1GHT : ]

GC: TH1S COD3 SHOULD G3T YOU THROUGH TH3 ST4RT L4T3R

GC: ZBhJfNgQ

MD: Cool :)

MD: What does it do? .,.

GC: YOLL S33 : ]

MD: Alright... Thanks for the semi cryptic help Terezi :?

GC: YOUR3 W3LCOM3 :]

GC: 1LL T4LK TO YOU L4T3R 4L1SS4

GC: IV3 GOT 4 TR14L TO OV3RS33

GC: 4ND YOU H4V3 4 G4M3 TO PL4Y :]

MD: Later TZ; have a good trial :3

GC: 1 4LW4YS DO :]

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling musicalDeleria [MD] at 4:27

I fold up the scrap of paper I'd written the code on and slip it into my pocket.  
I take a quick glance at the screen, the game is almost loaded, 97%; I can't help the small knot that forms in my gut as a bit of anxiety sets in.

The screen darkens, coming back on a room with game and comic posters taped to the walls, a TV on the wall is connected to at least five game systems. There are clothes and comics peppering the floor, shelves lined with masks and little figurines and action figures. The bed is black with a black and blue comforter, a life size gray wolf sits at the edge, plastic eyes toward the door. A real black wolf lounges on the rug at the center of the room; a girl with hair as black as carbon sits by the bed, using the laptop on the desk.

This is my room... That's me... and Nyx...  
I push my chair away in distraught. "What the hell is going on here?" I don't even have a webcam, how is this possible?  
The girl on the screen mimics my movements exactly. I raise my hand toward a book on the shelf above me and pull it down. She does the same. I throw the book onto the floor in exasperation, my hands raising to my temple as I shut my eyes for a second. "This is so not traught,"

I turn back to my laptop, pulling the chair back up as I stare at the screen intently. This looks just like the screenshots from the walkthrough.

turntechGodhead [TG] Began Pestering musicalDeleria [MD] at 14: 43

TG: long time no talk liss

MD: Hey! : ) It has been a while hasn;t it...

MD: I;ve been meaning to pester you sometime

TG: sure Liss

TG: you don't need to try to make me feel better

TG: a cool guy like me doesn't let that stuff get to him

MD: I mean it though

MD: Seriously; I've missed you like hell...

TG: yeah, me too liss...

MD: Geez; I'd give almost anything to see the faces of all those creepy puppets right about now :/

MD: I must be going mad ^^"

TG: they're not creepy

TG: they're cool and ironic

MD: If you say so : 3

TG: you know your mom's in the area

TG: you could've come with her if you wanted right?

MD: What?!

MD: Are you messin; with me?

TG: no, I swear

TG: she's been here almost a week

MD: She didn;t even tell me...

MD: Why would she not even tell me : (

TG: have you spoken to her recently?

MD: No

MD: Not exactly

MD: I got a letter in the mail today...

TG: was it bad?

MD: ...

TG: sorry liss...

MD: It;s ok

MD: Its just how she is

MD: How they are

MD: And if I had known I would have made her take me with her

TG: i know

TG: don't worry about it

TG: about any of it

MD: Alright

MD: I;ll try

TG: good

TG: you worry too much

MD: So what made you message me?

TG: i had a feeling you'd need someone to talk to

MD: Well; thanks

MD: I needed that; to talk to you again

MD: Even if it wasn;t in person

TG: yeah

TG: i know what you mean

MD: Let;s not let this be the last time we talk in who knows how long ok?

TG: deal

MD: Good : )

TG: i have something else i've got to get back to right now though

TG: i'll talk to you later, ok liss

MD: Ok; later : )

turntechGodhead [TG] Ceased Pestering musicalDeleria [MD] at 15:22

I close out the window, still feeling the blow of a metaphorical punch to the gut.  
Setting the family drama aside on a shelf for later I bring myself back to the task at hand.

I decide it's better to follow the site's advice rather than sit here stirring in my growing uneasiness; so I begin deploying as many devices as I can throughout the living and dining room, running both the client and server programs simultaneously.

Once that's all said and done I take myself, and my laptop, downstairs to check out what I'd just installed in my house.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" No fucking way. This shit is really here... In my fucking house. Some shit from a fucking CDROM game just fucking physically transferred itself to my living room, among other places.

Okay, I just need to take hold of the handle again and try and stay there, my feet are planted firmly back on the handle, no more questions, just... Okay. This is all completely normal, I'm somehow not asleep, but this crazy shit is happening around me, and I'm okay with that.

I take a slow, even breath of air and continue to take inventory.

I consult the walkthrough to determine what each of these clunky machines does. Briefly I wonder what's keeping me so calm through all this before pushing the thought aside so I can get this game going; I'll leave the questions for later.

'-THE CRUXTRUDER-  
Removing the lid signals the moment your life becomes a great whirling batshit pandemonium, somewhat resembling the chaos of an especially ethnic wedding. Somewhere a soused uncle deliberately shatters china on the floor. Muddy livestock is decorated, and then lost track of. The question "Who's mule is this?" at times can be heard over the din. This is now your reality.  
But aside from that, it marks the beginning of the process I am about to describe. The countdown begins, yes. Also, an entity called the "Kernelsprite" is released. But neither of these things are all that relevant to this process, to my knowledge. More on these things later.  
What is relevant is the un-lidded cruxtruder's ability to dispense "cruxite dowels". It will dispense at least one, though I suspect it is capable of producing more, given parameters I'm not yet familiar with. In my key making analogy, these dowels represent the uncarved pieces of metal which the hardware store employee retrieves from a drawer or a rack, and sets about carving into a key. The two following items are needed to do the carving.'

I click the attachment for the picture of the device, comparing it to the machines that surround me now. Shapewise it looks kind of like a two layer cake with a stout pillar in it's center, decorated in steampunk fashion. It seems the least complex of all the devices, no buttons or levers, only a small wheel and four small LED panels.

I return to the walkthrough to read up on the next two machines, skipping over the pre-punched card paragraph having found it simple enough the first time.

'-THE TOTEM LATHE-  
This is essentially the key carving machine. It will carve into your cruxite dowel a pattern of grooves and contours, the sort which makes a key unique. The instructions for this pattern are supplied by the punch card, which is inserted into the lathe pre-activation to configure it's chisels.  
Once the dowel is carved, you have a totem serving as your "key", which can then be used to "unlock" the card item through the alchemiter. But at this point, I will diverge from my key-making analogy and switch to a bar code analogy. Which is not a terribly strenuous leap to make, since the concepts of a key and a bar code are essentially the same- one being a unique pattern of grooves; the other, of varying black lines.'

I examined the beastly thing in front of the TV for a moment. Ok, so to me this one just looked like an industrial sized sewing machine with way too many wheels.

'-THE ALCHEMITER-  
If you place a cruxite dowel, carved or uncarved, on the alchemiter's small pedestal, it's robotic arm will scan the contours with a laser. hence the bar code analogy. This is the machine's way of reading the data originally imprinted from the card, and transforming that data into a physical object.'

Well it's obvious which one this is besides that it's the last one left and it has a giant alchemy symbol printed on it's base. I'd had to put this one in the front room for lack of space.

At least now I know what Terezi's code was for... I think. I stand before the newly placed Card Puncher in the kitchen still clinging to the foggy stupor that's keeping me from pirouetting off the fucking handle again.

I found two blank Catagalughe cards in one of the envelopes. Whoever sent this knew I would be needing these. I manage to put them in my pockets without them bending; I see now why having a Sylidex would come in handy.

Now I guess if I want to use the two punch cards I have I need to activate the Cruxtruder to get the Cruxite Dowels.

I move back to the living room to the white and purple device, pondering for a moment what to drop on it's lid.

After this point I will be on a timeline, if I fail to alchemize the pre punched card, game over.

I decide on the bulky and rarely used handheld vacuum, which does the job well enough as the Cruxtruder's lid pops open with a hiss.

I just hope I'm not already too late.

**I hope you enjoyed chapter two of glitch, and again, please let me know what you thought by leaving a review telling me if you liked it or hated it, I'll be uploading more chapters as they are completed, and depending on how far I get before Christmas I may upload a separate Christmas oneshot for this story if the readers so wish, so if you're up for that please let me know with a review and that will determine weather or not it goes up, you Conan reserve judgement until future chapters go up and leave your response on one of those chapters if you like, and if you think it's a horrible idea go ahead and let me know too, either way thank you for taking the time to read my story, I appreciate you all, especially the ones who review and favorite ;) Have a great week and I hope you come back for chapter three when its up :) Thanks again :) **


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